Help with Paisley Shawl

Hi, Folks-
I bought this yesterday and I'm not sure what I've got. It appears to be a paisley shawl. There's a sewn-in label. It measures about 72" by 56" plus the fringe. What I'd like to know is if it is a paisley shawl and if you can tell the material through a photo. (I have no experience in this area.) The age and identification of the label and country of origin would be great to learn. Any thoughts will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

We recently had another of those. A faux pashima of fairly recent manufacture. And you are correct the pattern is a paisley. Thrift stores are full of similars, many having come from China. I can't read the label but it reflects elements of the Afghanistan flag.

Debora

 

The previous thread for your information.

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/scarf-runner-burnoose.77484/#post-9420281

Debora

 

Debora-
Thanks so much.
Lew

 

Given the specific Afghan flag, it was made between 1930 and 1974.
Afghanistan has had many different flags over the years. It now has a flag with the text of the Shahada, the Islamic creed.

Paisley is the British nickname for the ancient Indian and Indo-Persian 'boteh' design.
Afghanistan was part of the Indo-Persian empire, so it is a traditional design for them. Style-wise, this scarf is related to Kashmir scarves and shawls.

Indian/Indo-Persian designs used to be copied in several countries in the West. The best known town in the UK where Kashmir shawls were copied is Paisley, in Scotland. Which is why the English-speaking world calls the 'boteh' design paisley.

There is a lot of confusion about pashmina scarves.
Pashmina is the soft wool from the undercoat of changthangi goats, a sub-species of Kashmir goats from the Himalayan region of Kashmir, NW India.
A pashmina scarf is made in Kashmir from that specific wool. A pashmina scarf can be any size and can be decorated with any design, as long as it is made from the very expensive Kashmiri pashmina wool.
Kashmir also produces scarves and shawls from other Kashmir goats, which is also valued, but not as expensive as pashmina scarves.

A few decades ago pashmina scarves became very popular, for those who could afford them. As usual, fakes were made, and the name was misused for any rectangular woolly scarf.

Your scarf is beautiful, but it has nothing to do with the real pashmina, nor with the real Paisley scarf.
It is firmly rooted in the Indo-Persian tradition and decorated with 'boteh' designs (which are called paisley in the English-speaking world).

 

Aj hank you for your thorough explanations. I learned so much in this one!

 

Always a pleasure Lark.
In these Indo-Persian scarves and other textiles, two of my fields of interest come together. First, the East India trade, of which I am a result. Second my love of regional and period dress. These were traditionally worn in my region, so I began to study the origins at an early age.

I have several Kashmir shawls, also one that one of my ancestors wore on a portrait that was painted of her. I also inherited an 18th century child's hat made of imported Indian printed and handpainted cotton. Of course I had to find out how that material came to the Netherlands.

 

I wonder if it's not an earlier iteration of the Afghani flag used as a modern design on a modern piece.

Debora

 

I don't think it is. These scarves are traditionally worn by the Afghani themselves, so they were certainly made long before 1974. In this case it could be early 1970s.

 

My inclination, too.